Together at Last
by Aileena
Summary: This is Zieg's story and how he met Claire. Rated PG13 cuz I felt like it... Read and review please!


togetheratlast **Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Dragoon and this is for my entertainment cuz my life is so wretchedly boring.**

_I had to write this_.** I HATE CLAIRE**. _Her voice is ugly and she's ugly! Argh! But I tried to be semi nice to her in this story… wait I think I am nice to her. * Gasp in horror *. By the way if you think this story sux and makes no sense… go and write ur own.___

_Oh and is Zieg called the Red Dragoon?? Or the Fire Dragoon or the red fire dragoon?? Cuz I really seriously have no idea… or I just haven't been paying attention to the game._

**Together at Last.**   
_A story of Zieg, the Red Dragoon._

"Tomorrow is the final battle." Rose said in answer to the footsteps approaching behind her. "Yes…" Zieg wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "And after we can finally start our life together." Rose turned around.   
"What if something happens?" Her voice was relatively calm but it shook slightly.   
"Our bonds of…" Zieg began.   
"Affection are forever." Rose finished. "If something happens to me, I don't want you to spend your life grieving… I want you to find someone… promise?" Zieg looked into her eyes and responded.   
"Yes, I promise but in my heart… there will only be you." 

***   
  
Zieg hurtled himself towards Melbu Frahma. As he struck once again, he glanced at Rose. She was fighting off a wingly warrior; Zieg felt concern for Rose momentarily but it quickly subsided, as he knew she could easily take him down. Rose finished off the wingly and once again resumed watching Zieg. Zieg saw an opening and felt himself deliver the fatal blow to Melbu, piercing his sword through his chest. His moment of triumph was immediately replaced by horror as Melbu grinned at him evilly one last time. Zieg felt himself fly backward. He looked down at himself, realizing his legs were nothing but stone. The numbing pain was quickly crawling up his legs. He closed his eyes… expectantly awaiting his fate.   
"Zieg!" Zieg's eyes opened. He watched Rose fly towards him. Rose… his lovely fiancée, who would have to witness his death. She reached towards his hand, he felt her slender fingers touch his momentarily before they were consumed by stone.   
"Let go…" He choked through his pain. "Save yourself."   
"No!" She cried, tears were running down her face. "I love you Zieg…" It was the last sound he heard. 

*** 

Warm sunshine caused Zieg's eyes to open. He got up; his whole body was aching. Was the battle over? Had he survived after all? He got up and inspected his surroundings. Everything seemed… different. Everything was in ruins as expected; however it looked… almost ancient. Chunks of stone were everywhere… what remained of the once proud wingly city. He reached for his dragoon spirit, feeling it around his neck. Zieg willed himself to transform however the spirit remained dormant. What the heck? He thought and stumbled over the ruins to the exit. After hours of walking, Zieg finally spotted a village. He entered and walked up towards a young lady who was scolding a couple children.   
"Excuse me? Could you possibly tell me how to get to Fort Magrad?"   
"Um… I don't think I've ever heard of it." She wrinkled her brow in concentration. "But I think Ayan might know, follow me!" Zieg followed the woman to a little house in the middle of the village. "Ayan!" She yelled, whacking the door. Zieg watched her with fascination. Her hair was a very odd color. Violet… just like Rose's eyes but Rose's were a shade darker.   
A man in his late fifties opened the door, smiling at the girl. "Ahh… Claire! What a pleasant surprise and you brought a visitor! Tell me… is this your boyfriend?" Claire looked down and blushed. In the short time she had known him, she had developed a strange attraction to the stranger.   
"No," she said shyly.   
"Well come in! Come in!" Ayan stepped aside. 

Zieg sat on a chair and drank the warm tea Ayan had offered him. Claire introduced herself to Zieg "I'm Claire, I only moved here recently after…" she stopped, her eyes darkening. "Never mind. Tell me… what's your name?"   
"My name's Zieg Feld. It's wonderful how peaceful this town is… especially with the war just ended."   
"War? I haven't heard of one recently… but then I need to catch up with what's happening around the world!" That was strange. How could she not have heard of the liberation of humans? Could this town possibly be that isolated?   
"I take it this town is fairly isolated?"   
"Hmm… well I guess… let's talk to Ayan." Ayan walked in as if on cue and introduced himself to Zieg. "I'm Ayan, the local historian."   
"He's very familiar with this world's geography… right?" Claire said, smiling.   
"Well I guess." Ayan shrugged.   
"So… tell me Zieg… where are you supposedly headed?"   
"I'm headed for Fort Magrad. I'm hoping to catch up with some of my friends." Zieg watched Ayan's expression change.   
"You must be joking young man! Fort Magrad is merely a city of legend!"   
"What are you talking about? I was just there a few weeks ago!"   
"Fort Magrad is an ancient city in mythology. It supposedly existed 11, 000 years ago in the Dragon Campaign."   
"11 000 years… by Soa… how long have I…" Zieg jumped up, his head was starting to throb. "I must go…" He ran out of the house and down the path. A strange feeling had begun to swell in his chest. He didn't know where he was going to go… he just knew he had to keep running or this painful feeling inside him would consume him. If he had been petrified for 11, 000 years… then did that mean Rose was…? No! She couldn't be. His beautiful Rose could not possibly be dead. She was everything to him. She was his… life. 

"Wait!" Claire's voice stopped him. He turned around and faced her. "Where are you going? Why did you run?" Zieg felt himself collapse onto the ground, all he could feel was the pain in his heart. "Please come back with me to Neet… you're obviously exhausted, come rest at my place… please!" Zieg nodded and numbly followed her back to the town. 

*** 

Zieg awoke and glanced up at Claire's smiling face. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"   
"I'm fine." He got up and glanced down at his engagement ring.   
"You're married?" Claire asked nervously.   
"I was engaged,"   
"You were? To who?" Claire asked, curiously. Only the most beautiful girl ever created by Soa, Zieg thought but he didn't say it aloud.   
"It doesn't matter… she died a long time ago." Zieg answered, ignoring the pain in his chest.   
"Oh, I'm sorry." Claire looked down. "I'll leave you for a while." As soon as Claire left, Zieg felt tears begin to run down his face.   
"Rose," He whispered, kneeling and clutching his dragoon spirit. It was his last connection to the past, yet the pain was so intense. To him, everything had happened just yesterday.   


"Zieg… why do you never speak of your past?" Zieg looked towards his wife, Claire. "The past is the past. Why do you want to know?"   
"Well, we've been married for 5 and a half years already… and you never speak to me about your past except for that first day that I met you." Claire looked into his eyes. Zieg turned away and headed towards the door.   
"I'm going to get us some more fire wood." If he had looked back, he would have seen the question in Claire's eyes… what are you hiding? 

"Dad!" Dart ran up the stone path towards his father. He was a tiny replica of his father. Dart looked up at his father who was starring at the sky. "Dad! What you looking at?" Zieg looked down at his son's face and whispered softly.   
"My friends are waiting for me."   
"Are they in heaven?" Dart asked, "are they gone forever?" Zieg thought for a moment before responding.   
"No… they are gone from this world… yet they all still live in my heart." Especially Rose… Zieg thought silently. He thought about her every night even when he was with Claire. His old engagement ring had long since been taken off his finger yet he still hung it around his neck, along with his now dormant dragoon spirit.   
As he had once promised to Rose, his heart had never let him forget her and he feared that Claire sensed it. There was only enough room in his heart for Rose. Claire was merely a distraction. It was not that he didn't love Claire, he loved her but it was not as deep as his love for his long lost fiancée. Claire pretended to act clueless but Zieg knew. She often looked at him… wondering. His eyes were those of a man who could only look upon one woman. 

Suddenly a scream pierced the air. It was Claire. Zieg turned his head and quickly ran down the path with Dart scurrying behind. As Zieg approached the houses, he caught sight of the flames. They were fast consuming everything in sight. Claire was screaming at the sight of the charred body of Ayan, who appeared to have been stabbed through then burned. What was going on? Zieg wondered. But he had no time to ponder his thoughts. He grabbed Claire's hand and picked up Dart, together they raced towards safety. 

Dropping Dart, he quickly told him to stay put and with Claire, he ran towards what remained of the village to try and help. Claire ran into a shack that appeared to be still standing and attempted to pull out a couple children while Zieg searched for any survivors among the rubble. Claire screamed and Zieg turned around quickly… what he saw made his blood run cold. 

It was Rose. 

Zieg was certain it was Rose, yet her violet eyes had lost their once lively glow. Right then, they appeared black. She appeared emotionless as she slit the children's throats; they fell to the ground without a word. Rose slowly approached Claire however Zieg did not do anything. He could not move. How could Rose be killing all these people? Did she have a reason? He snapped out of his reverie and watched as Rose turned to Claire, demanding an answer.   
"Where is Princess Louvia? I must kill her." Claire fought back desperately and attempted to drive a punch into Rose. Rose easily blocked it; Zieg was surprised at the amount of skill she now had.   
"Why must you kill her?" Claire demanded, stepping out of the way of Rose's sword.   
"The chance to kill the moon child comes only every 108 years" With those words said, Rose thrust her sword forward and pierced Claire's heart. She fell to the ground with a look of pure terror on her face. Zieg wanted to scream yet his words all seemed caught in his throat. 

As if on cue, his dragoon spirit began to glow. Zieg grabbed it and attempted to transform, although he had no reason to. The familiar transformation seemed different, it hurt much more, He yelled and attempted to stop it but he couldn't. Just then a voice invaded his mind.   
"I have been waiting for over 10 000 years!" Zieg cringed, recognizing the voice. It was Melbu Frahma. An evil laugh erupted and Zieg fought to control his thoughts. "Do not fight me, you weak dragoon. You are in no state to fight me… you just witnessed your long lost love treacherously murder your wife!" With those words said, Zieg lost it, the barriers in his mind wavered and Melbu took total control. The last thoughts that ran through Zieg's mind were of his Rose. 

*** 

Whenever possible, Zieg fought to win back his body yet it never succeeded and this continued for the next 18 years. The pain of losing his wife of 5 years was now merely a scar, yet knowing his Rose was alive brought him hope and comfort through the years of darkness. Yet questions still bombarded his mind, who was the moon child? He knew that there had to be a good explanation. The Rose he loved would never kill without cause. Suddenly a bright light shone around Zieg. Could it be? Was it finally coming to an end? 

"I have waited for this moment," Zieg opened his eyes, hovering above him was Rose, her dark violet eyes alive once more. He gathered his surroundings and realized what he must do. 

"As have I… I am… sorry," He said. No matter how much he said to her, nothing could positively compare to the pain these last 11, 000 years had brought her. Was she still hurting? Could she possibly still love him? He knew he did. "Rose…" His voice was strangely calm. "Will you come with me?"   
"Yes, Zieg. I will never leave you again." Her voice shook with emotion, she carried Zieg and together they carried Shana and Dart to safety. As they flew, Dart realized what Zieg and Rose were about to do. 

"Father! It's not fair, we only just met." Dart pleaded. As they reached safety, Rose turned to Dart and smiled.   
"Thank you Dart. I will never forget you." Together, she and Zieg flew back in towards the chaos, towards the God of Destruction. Zieg turned his head towards Rose.   
"I love you." He whispered.   
"I know. We can finally be together." He reached up and wiped a stray tear away from her smiling face. "I never forgot you." 

Together they delivered the final blow to the God of Destruction. Beams of light shot around them as it ended in one final explosion. 

THE END 

Author's note: Okay… I think that positively sucked. I had to write this story because I needed to come up with an explanation for Zieg's feelings towards Claire. This took me several hours so please be nice. 

  



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